I remember learning about this in Western Civilizations class about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I wanted to see what the perspectives of people here are on this theory of Aristotle's.

First of all, in order to be happy (according to A), you must have the following:

- Virtue
- Wealth
- Health
- Friends
- Power

Without these, you would not be happy. Also, A stated that you must have lived your life...if you are young, then you cannot be happy. Alexander the Great, a student of Aristotle, would not have been happy in Aristotle's eyes, for Alex the Great died young and had not lived into old age.
Aristotle believed that achieving happiness was the ultimate goal, and take away any of these items, then you will not achieve happiness.

My teacher asked my class whether or not Alexander the Great achieved happiness. Yes, there is the fact that he died young, but he definitely had the items listed.

However, I am going to ask whether or not you can ever be happy without one of these items listed.

I believe yes, I do not think power is a necessity in everyday life to become happy. Yes, every human being has a small portion of power in their lives, like the right to choose what actions you take, but I take it Aristotle meant some sort of higher power, like generals and kings. Not everyone has that kind of power, but you can still be happy.

What do you think? If I am missing anything on the Theory of Happiness, please state it.

EDIT: I may have put this in the wrong forum by mistake. If it is an issue, someone can summon the mods and move it.

Aristotle did have a great brain, and paved the way for many great thinkers, but he was wrong about a good many things of course.

Happiness is kind of like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder, it's subjective. Virtue, Wealth, Health, Friends and Power may be the things that would have made Aristotle happy(and probably would make most people happy), but it doesn't define what happiness is.

Happiness is being content with your life, and there are plenty of people who are content without being wealthy, healthy, powerful, or even virtuous. Though there aren't many friendless people who die happy. That's what true happiness is for me at least, being able to share my experience of life with real friends who care about me, and who I care about.

All in all, happiness is a state of mind that can be achieved internally. If you try to live up to Aristotles' expectations for happiness, most people just wouldn't be happy, but that's just my thought on the matter

Regarding the Power aspect of what Aristotle said, for one man to have power, another man must have less power. Not everyone can have the same amount of power, making the people with less power not happy, both literally and according to Aristotle's theory.

sloanstar1000 : I believe these 5 things listed are external things necessary in order to get to that internal state. If I am so poor that food is the only thing on my mind, I cannot be happy because I do not have sufficient wealth. If I am constantly bullied at school or am the king of a nation weaker than my enemies, I cannot be happy because I don't have sufficient power.

The amount of wealth and power and the rest of them that are necessary are subjective, yes, but there are certainly requirements for happiness. Gandhi didn't need near as much wealth, power, health, or friends, but Gandhi could not be happy without virtue. While Gandhi was passive over the plight of India, he was torn. When he made his decision to attempt to free India from British rule, his needs of virtue were met, and Gandhi was happy.